Mount Parker (Cotabato)

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Mount Parker, locally known as Melibengoy, is a stratovolcano on Mindanao island in the Philippines (6°06.8' N, 124°53.5' E). It is located in the province of Cotabato, 30 kilometers west of General Santos City and 44 kilometers south of Marbel town.

The volcano is believed to have been named after an American pilot who crashed at the volcano while he was surveying and mapping the area.

[edit] Physical features

The volcano has an elevation of 1,784 meters and a base diameter of 40 km. It has a 2.9-km-wide caldera with steep walls that rise 200-500 m above the crater lake that is now called Maughan Lake. The lake, which is officially called Lake Holon, was named after another American who was with Parker when he crashed.

Melibengoy is considered one of the sacred places of the T'boli tribe. It hosts a rare species, Parantica dannatti reyesi, which was discovered by the late Professor Josue de los Reyes of Notre Dame of Marbel University and published in the Entomological Journal of Senckerburg Research Institute in December 1994.

Government officials have also confirmed sightings of the Philippine tarsier, Tarsius syrichta which can supposedly be found in the barangays surrounding Lake Holon.

[edit] Eruptions

Mount Parker is believed to have erupted thrice over the past 3,800 years, the last one on January 4, 1641. The 1641 eruption caused the formation of the crater lake.

On September 6, 1995, local officials reported what they believed was volcanic activity at Lake Maughan. The alleged activity caused landslides and floodings along Ga-o River which drains Lake Maughan and joins Allah River in the north. Due to this phenomenon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology installed monitoring eequipment which established that the so-called activity was man-made.

Less than a year after the 1995 activity, a temporary dam was formed at about 250 m from the outlet of Lake Maughan, alarming the residents within the area due to fear of flashfloods. The deposited debris dammed the flowing Ga-o River and caused the lake level to rise by about 6 meters.

Melibengoy is one of the 22 active volcanoes in the Philippines: Babuyan Claro, Banahaw, Bulusan, Mount Biliran, Bud Dajo, Cagua, Camiguin de Babuyanes, Didicas, Hibok-Hibok, Iraya, Mount Iriga, Mount Kanlaon, Leonard Kniaseff, Makaturing, Matutum, Mayon, Musuan, Pinatubo, Ragang, Smith Volcano, Taal. They are all part of the so-called "Pacific ring of fire."